I have held multiple administrative positions over my career in Australian universities and research organisations. Here is a brief summary.

CSIRO (1986 – 1993)

From 1986 to 1993 I was employed in the CSIRO Division of Information Technology in Melbourne. In fact, I was an inaugural member of the Division and was a member of the team that established the Melbourne Laboratory. At the same time I held an adjunct position at RMIT, and took a leadership role in a number of RMIT related activities.

During that time I held a range of administrative management positions (whilst building a research profile). These included:

• Program Director of the High Performance Computing program;
• Program Director of High Performance Computing in the Co-operative Research Centre for Intelligent Decision Systems (CIDS);
• Director of the RMIT Centre for Concurrent Computing; and 
• Laboratory manager of the Division of Information Technology. 

The positions spanned a wide range of administrative, leadership and management roles. Specifically, the following tasks were core to the roles: 

• Hiring, mentoring and supervision of  research staff (approximately 20);
• Forming budgets and executing financial delegation;
• Responsibility for staff development and training;
• Supervision of post graduate students;
• Responsibility for implementing the CSIRO Performance, Planning and Evaluation program (PPE). This involved both setting individual objectives and helping set those for staff being supervised, as well as monitoring whether objectives are achieved over the year;
• Acting on behalf of the chief of the Division when necessary;
• Management of the laboratory site and infrastructure;
• Reporting to RMIT council on the activities of the Centre for Concurrent Computing;
• Development of program activities in line with overall CSIRO and RMIT objectives;
• Preparation of grant submissions;
• Procurement of external funding; and
• Planning equipment needs for projects and laboratory.

Griffith University (1993 – 1997)

While at Griffith University I was involved in a number of School administrative and management committees, including chairing the School Computing and Equipment Committee. In 1995 I was appointed Deputy Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science and Technology (SCT). SCT contained the Schools of Science, Computing and Information Technology, Micro-electronics and Aviation. The position of Deputy Dean encompassed the co-ordination and planning of research activities across the Faculty, as well as responsibility for post graduate student enrolments. The position was empowered to act as the Dean’s delegate in these matters, and reported to the Dean and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research). I was pro-active in promoting research within the faculty, and formulated and defended a number of faculty proposals at the University level. I chaired the Faculty Research and Post-graduate Studies committee and was required to make a number of decisions executively.

I was involved in the formulation of the Faculty and University Research Management Plans, and was interviewed in my capacity as Deputy Dean by the DEET Quality Committee in 1995. This process exposed me to most levels of research planning in the University, and I worked closely with other Deputy Deans and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) prior to the Quality interview.

During 1995 I took a major role in the planning and implementation of a new research building for the Faculty. This involved interaction with architects, University Facilities Management Group and various researchers around the Faculty.  As a consequence of my role in the School of CIT and the position as Deputy Dean, I was a member of numerous School, Faculty and University committees. I also assumed the position of Acting Dean when the Dean was absent from the University.

Monash University (1997 – 2013)

Chair of School of Computer Science and Software Engineering

I joined Monash University in 1997 and assumed the chair of the Department of Digital Systems. However, in 1998 we formed a new School called the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE), and I held the position of Chair of that School from 1998 to 2003. 

CSSE was the largest school in the Faculty of Information Technology both in terms of the number of academic staff (around 60 FTE) as well as the number of equivalent full-time students (around 1800). It was established as a separate school after the review of various departments in the faculty of Information Technology. The school was formed by the amalgamation of four departments, namely:

• Department of Computer Science (Clayton).
• Department of Computer Technology (Caulfield)
• Department of Digital Systems (Clayton).
• Department of Software Development (Caulfield).

The rationale for the amalgamation was that there was a significant overlap of teaching and research activities across the four former departments. The new school offered undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, and research programs, in the “technical” areas of computing. It should be stressed that the new School was not simply a structure imposed on top of the former departments. Rather, it was a systematic reconstruction that built a new unit from the components of the former departments. One of the more challenging aspects of this merger was building an environment that was inclusive to all members of the former departments. This was particularly important because the background, skills and culture of each of the departments differed significantly (Three of the departments were former departments of Chisolm Institute of Technology prior to its merger with Monash University. Accordingly, particular care was taken to build the School structure and operational policies to leverage the achievements of the former departments.

As the Chair I was responsible for a huge range of changes to the structure and operation. CSSE was one of the few multi-campus schools at Monash, and was distributed between the Caulfield and Clayton campuses. Importantly, it was the largest school in Australia, and larger than many equivalent Faculties. In response to the challenge of running such a large and diverse organizational unit, I led the development of a number of policies and practices that covered the teaching and research program, as well as the administration. Under my leadership, the School’s average grant income between 1998 and 2001 rose at a compound rate of 28% per annum to over $2M PA.

Science Director, Monash e-Research Centre

In 2005 I, and a number of colleagues, formed the Monash e-Research Centre (MeRC), under the direction of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Professor Edwina Cornish. Monash was the first university in Australia to establish an e-Research Centre, and maintains a leadership position today. MeRC is uniquely positioned to draw in services, capabilities and expertise from the Faculty of IT, the IT services division and the Library. It acts as a facilitator and broker between users and these service units. MeRC is fortunate to have its own Monash researchers who are leaders in the fields of Grid technology, High Performance Computing and Data Mining. 

The Centre also benefits from Monash expertise and leadership in the development of internationally recognised e-research programmes, and is a partner in:

• The Australian National Data Service (ANDS)
• The National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR)
• The Research Data Storage Infrastructure  (RDSI)

I have served in numerous senior positions in MeRC, including Acting Director (2007), Associate Director (2008) and currently, Science Director. Along with Professor Paul Bonnington, the current director, I provide both strategic and tactical direction, implement new plans and reach out to academic programs across Monash. MeRC offers unique skills in the areas of Collaboration Services, High Performance Computing and Data Storage and Management. I engage with academic staff using a range of strategies, empowering them to adopt modern research practices.

Director, Monash e-Education Centre

In 2012 I took over as Director of the Monash e-Education Centre (MeEC) following on from Professor Gordon Sanson, the founding Director. The centre both performs research in how technology can be applied to education, but also translates this into practice around the University. The overall pedagogical approach is to implement a “blended learning” strategy, leveraging a range of technologies – some developed at Monash and others from external groups. The centre is also responsible for implementing pedagogy driven learning spaces, and is actively involved in a number of new learning space designs.

During 2012 I have been implementing a significant restructure of the MeEC operations. I have developed a new academic engagement strategy, instigated a number of space renewal projects and restructured the research pipeline in the Centre.

University of Queensland (2013 – 2024)

Director of Research Computing Centre, University of Queensland

The Research Computing Centre (RCC) is a University level Centre that provides coordinated management and support of the University’s sustained and substantial investment in e-Research. RCC is an innovative and multidisciplinary environment that supports collaboration to facilitate discoveries in science and engineering, humanities, and social sciences, through advanced computation, data analysis and other digital research tools. The centre enhances the University’s e-Research infrastructure, and provides support for interdisciplinary research and education. 

Under my lead, the RCC has developed a structure and interaction model that matches the way research is conducted at UQ, leveraging expertise in Faculties, Research Centres, Institutes and other support groups. I have developed a unique, multi-tiered structure that both lowers the gap between researchers and e-Research infrastructure, but empowers those who already have the skills to excel.

The RCC leverages investment by government in initiatives such Queensland Cyber-Infrastructure Foundation (QCIF); and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDS. It also builds on key support services in the University, namely Information Technology Services (ITS) and the Library.

The RCC aggregates expertise in core e-Research technologies, such as Cloud Computing, Data Management, High performance Computing (HPC), Workflow Tools and Visualisation. Over and above this, it builds an expandable layer of domain expertise, initially in Bio-informatics and Genomics; Computational Engineering; Environment and Ecology; Humanities and Social Sciences; and Advanced Imaging. These domain layers are the primary interface to researchers, and are collaborative ventures with existing groups.

The RCC uses a collaborative funding model, utilising multiple sources, including the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), QCIF, ARDC (NCRIS) and other initiatives.